NPR.org: Scorching Phoenix Plans For An Even Hotter Future

[JPVLeaf]

Things just aren't going to get better in Phoenix, AZ.

As they say, this is part of the new Normal.

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/14/158776471/scorching-phoenix-plans-for-an-even-hotter-future (8/14/12)

It's been a record hot summer in many cities across the nation. Phoenix is no exception. This Sonoran Desert metropolis already records more days over 100 degrees than any other major U.S. city. Now, climate models predict Phoenix will soon get even hotter.

A hotter future may mean a more volatile environment — and along with it, natural disasters, greater pressure on infrastructure, and an increased physical toll on city residents.

While some city planners around the country discuss ways to mitigate climate change, planners in Phoenix assume that change is already under way. Now, they are working to prepare the Phoenix metro area, and its approximately 4 million residents, for a new reality.

As Phoenix grows, so does the problem, says Nancy Selover, the state climatologist.

"We keep thinking we'll probably see a night when we only get down to 100 as a minimum temperature, which is kind of shocking," Selover says.

Uh, they didn't mention the effect of the extreme heat on Li ion batteries.

 

[JPVLeaf]

This new Normal is obviously not isolated to Phoenix, AZ.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/20...ing-the-explosion-of-daily-records/?mobile=nc

by Andrew Freedman, via Climate Central

As the climate has warmed during the past several decades, there has been a growing imbalance between record daily high temperatures in the contiguous U.S. and record daily lows. A study published in 2009 found that rather than a 1-to-1 ratio, as would be expected if the climate were not warming, the ratio has been closer to 2-to-1 in favor of warm temperature records during the past decade (2000-2009). This finding cannot be explained by natural climate variability alone, the study found, and is instead consistent with global warming.

When you look at individual years, the imbalance can be more stark. For example, through late June 2012, daily record highs were outnumbering record daily lows by a ratio of 9-to-1.The study used computer models to project how the records ratios might shift in future decades as the amount of greenhouse gases in the air continues to increase. The results showed that the ratio of daily record highs to daily record lows in the lower 48 states could soar to 20-to-1 by mid-century, and 50-to-1 by 2100.

Andrew Freedman is the Senior Science Writer for Climate Central. This piece was originally published at Climate Central and was reprinted with permission.

 

[nosuchthing]

And the occassional dust storm. Nice place.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

the other statistic that gets buried is much warmer than normal winters. record highs in winter is only seen as average temps.

other variables like rain. we had a wetter than normal July mostly because of a late arriving summer so we got .90 inches of rain instead of the expected .63 inches of rain but had only .04 inches in August (normal .99 inches) and expected to have less than .1 inches in September (normal 1.71 inches) we actually have only had trace amounts of precipitation this month and next predicted day of rain is Sept 30th.

but most climate change models predicted pretty much exactly the year we are having. colder wetter winters, warmer drier Summers. despite our dryness this year, we are way ahead on the precip totals thanks to March with 8.8 inches (normally 5.2 inches) and its average temps for the month being 3+º below normal

but that is how the pendulum works. slow gradual changes here help to mask the wild swings elsewhere. how much longer before we see open arctic seas in Summer? was expected to be 25 years but now they are saying in 25 years there will be no Summer ice at all